


Mixed Messages

by Evie_adams273



Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blanket scene, Book: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Cursed Child, Delphi is going to be evil, Gen, Godric's Hollow, Harry Potter - Freeform, Near-Death Experience, ah the irony, hiding in a church, if the blanket didn't work, in a cupboard, little bit of violence, messages didn't get through, seeing the irony of hiding in a closet now, the boy is so gay and he's in a closet, the boys hiding, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22639489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evie_adams273/pseuds/Evie_adams273
Summary: As dusk draws in, in Godric's Hollow, Albus and Scorpius are still waiting to find out if their message got through to their parents. It's been hours and they're still alone. They can't stay out in the dark alone anymore, because they know what's coming. And all the while, Albus' conscience starts to hit harder and harder.
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy & Albus Severus Potter
Kudos: 32





	Mixed Messages

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning: bit of violence

“We need to find somewhere to hide,” Scorpius glanced around them again. “It’s getting dark.”

Albus didn’t move, continue to watch the road. He had promised himself, over and over, that his parents would get their message. He had promised himself that someone would come to save them. And now dusk was drawing in and they were still waiting.

He knew that, really, this wasn’t unreasonable. After everything that had happened, what was the true likelihood that anyone even knew they were missing?

He flinched slightly as Scorpius took his hand, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles. Albus bit his lip.

“What if they are coming?” he croaked. “What if they’re coming but they can’t find us when we hide?”

“We’ll find them,” Scorpius said. “But Voldemort might appear soon. Which means she’ll come back. She might already be here. We have to hide somewhere.”

Albus nodded, turning away from the road and looking at Scorpius properly.

“Where do we go?” he murmured. “Where can we actually hide here?”  
“There’s the church? It might be reasonably empty now. Empty enough to find somewhere to hide, anyway.”

Albus nodded again, not letting go of Scorpius’ hand as they hurried down the street and towards the Churchyard, while still trying to look natural. A few people nodded a hello that Scorpius returned more than once. Albus just pulled up his hood. Scorpius didn’t stop him. Albus knew he was recognisable around here. He couldn’t leave a mark on people’s memories.

The graveyard was fairly deserted as they walked through it, opening the Church door and starting to walk inside. Albus could feel the draught almost exploding out of the building and he shivered. Between this and the snow, it wasn’t good weather to not have a coat. Not that either of them had had any idea of what had been coming.

Scorpius went inside the Church first and Albus glanced around one last time, with the intention of closing the door after himself. He froze as his gaze landed on a woman in a large, black coat, also scanning the surrounding area. She turned to look at him, locking his gaze and grinning softly. Albus stumbled back into the building, slamming the door shut and pulling Scorpius through to the open part.

“She knows,” Albus struggled to make the sound come from his throat. “She knows we’re here. Hide. Go. Hide!”

“What about you?”

“I’ll hide somewhere else.”

“Albus–”

“If she catches me, promise me, promise me that you’ll run. You’ll get away. Please.”

“I can’t…”

“Scorpius, _please_.”

“Okay,” Scorpius nodded. “But only if you promise me that you’ll run if she finds me.”

Albus nodded silently. He wanted to hug Scorpius, try to reassure himself that they weren’t about to die. They wouldn’t die. They could hide. They could survive. If they had survived before, they could survive again. He didn’t hug Scorpius. He tried to offer him a small smile before hurrying off down the length of the Church, desperately trying to find something he could hide in. The pews were not protected enough. She would see him.

He started towards what looked like a couple of side rooms, searching for some sort of cupboard he could hide in. Or, at the very least, a curtain he could hide behind. Technically, he had the wand that he had stolen earlier, but it had been temperamental. He couldn’t rely on it. He had to hide, and he had to hope to Merlin and every other force in the world that Scorpius also found a place to hide.

Albus put his hand over his mouth, trying not to breathe as he heard the Church door open again. He had to find somewhere. He glanced around again, spotting a cupboard and almost tearing it open. It didn’t creak as he climbed inside, squeezing his eyes shut and continuing to try and hold his breath. If he didn’t move, if he didn’t make a sound, maybe he would make it out.

How had they ended up here? What had brought them to this point? Almost immediately, Albus regretted asking himself. He knew exactly why they were there. He knew it was his fault. And he knew that, if they did survive, he would never be able to forgive himself. Not when he couldn’t shake images of Scorpius screaming and begging and pleading and shaking.

Scorpius…he hadn’t said a proper goodbye to Scorpius. He hadn’t wanted to. He hadn’t wanted to think that maybe they might not see each other again. But now that he had to try and remain completely silent, knowing that _she_ was searching the Church, his mind starting to run.

Scorpius could die. Scorpius could be tortured again. Scorpius – Scorpius couldn’t die. But it had become a possibility.

He knew he had promised that he would run if Scorpius got caught, but he knew it wasn’t something he was going to stick to. He’d only begged Scorpius to promise it to him because he knew that he didn’t deserve to make it out alive.

But he didn’t want to die.

Scorpius had seemed so ready to let go. In the maze, when it had seemed like that was the way out, he had seemed so ready to die. It was something Albus couldn’t entirely understand, but he almost knew why.

Scorpius had seen the alternative option first-hand. Scorpius had seen the horror and had nearly died trying to right it. Even if Albus couldn’t fully comprehend what had happened, and he couldn’t, he understood that Scorpius would have spent a lot of time thinking about it, fixating on it, obsessing over it.

And he would have someone waiting for him when he died. There was that small piece of comfort for him.

Maybe that had been why he hadn’t considered other alternatives. Or maybe he had, and he just hadn’t said anything. He’d always been a faster thinker than Albus. Albus had never even thought it was any other way around. Scorpius was an uber-geek. He was proud of it. Albus loved him for that.

If, by some miracle, both of them made it out alive, Albus knew they would need to talk about what had happened. It wouldn’t be an easy conversation, but they had to have it. At some point. If they made it out.

Albus flinched slightly as he heard a high-pitched laugh echo through the building, followed by a soft whimper and several grunts of pain. Albus stopped breathing. She had found Scorpius. She had found Scorpius and he couldn’t interfere. Not without getting them both killed.

He put his hands over his ears, despising himself as he did so. He couldn’t let her know he was there. He couldn’t try and defend them when he had no wand and she could get inside his head. He couldn’t be stupid, even if that was what every instinct was screaming at him to be. He couldn’t be stupid.

He couldn’t be stupid.

He couldn’t be stupid.

He screamed.

The sound was an involuntary reaction to the fact that Scorpius screamed and the sound made it through to Albus’ mind. He clamped down on it immediately, curling up tighter than he had before. But Scorpius’ screams had stopped. And the whimpers had started again.

Scorpius was speaking. Albus couldn’t make out the words, but he could hear Scorpius speaking. Trying to defy Delphi. Trying to stop her. Occasionally, he grunted in pain, and Albus felt his stomach lurch.

It was another thing that was his fault. He had suggested the message that hadn’t worked. He had sat watching the road rather than trying to find a backup plan. He had hesitated for a single moment and given their location away. It was all his fault.

Albus held himself as still as possible, not even letting himself breathe, as the footsteps started to approach. Delphi’s; sharp and purposeful. Scorpius’; irregular and stumbling. He kept whimpering and crying. She kept laughing.

“Albus,” she simpered. “Albus, sweetheart, we can see you.”

Albus waited a moment before opening his eyes. He wanted to be sure she could actually see him and that it wasn’t a trick. It didn’t take him long to realise that wasn’t something that mattered. Scorpius was in danger. He had to try and stop her.

He pulled himself out of the cupboard, trying to find the strength to stand up. Delphi was stood in the doorway, holding Scorpius upright by a handful of hair. His nose was bleeding and he looked as if he would have collapsed if left to stand alone. Albus started towards him, stopping as Delphi glared at him.

“Let him go,” Albus hated how much his voice was shaking. “You want me. Let him go.”

“I don’t want you,” Delphi smirked. “I don’t want either of you. I have other options that I’m waiting to enact. I’m only here because, well, I do need to dispose of the two of you.”

Albus remained silent as Delphi glanced at Scorpius, before looking at Albus and shoving his friend across the space at him. Albus caught him, helping him to sit down before turning back to face Delphi and reaching for the faulty wand.

“You can’t fight me.”

“You can’t kill him. You can’t hurt him.”

“Because you won’t let me?”

“Not again.”

Albus stayed very still as Delphi walked towards him, running her hand along the bottom of his hair and to the edge of his chin. Then, she leaned in so that her lips were hovering by his ear.

“Then you’re in luck,” she whispered, “because what happens next is your decision.”

Silence.

“Well, in some manner of speaking. I’m going to kill you both. And you get to decide who dies first.”

“Me. You have to kill me if you want to get near him.”

“Are you sure?”

“Scorpius…lives…longer…keep your promise…even if I didn’t…”

“Oh, I’ll keep my promise,” Delphi grinned. “Both of you are about to die.”

Albus flinched as Delphi backed away, raising her wand. He tried not to let the tears come. He didn’t want to die. He wasn’t ready to die. But if he died, then maybe Scorpius would run. Maybe Scorpius would get away. If he died. Maybe…

Albus felt his heart start to pound as something tightened around his throat, cutting off his breath and squeezing more and more tightly with every passing second. He tried to slap away whatever it was, the movement more instinctual than anything else, because he knew that it was magic.

Scorpius was screaming again, sobbing and pleading, though Albus couldn’t make out the words. His vision was starting to darken around the edges, blurring where he could still see something. He kept trying to fight it, though he couldn’t move his feet. This was his end. He was going to die and it was his own fault.

Delphi kept laughing. Scorpius kept screaming. Everything was going dark. The sound was starting to fade.

Albus almost knew that Scorpius wouldn’t get away. He knew he’d driven them both to their deaths. She had found them. They were going to die. And time would be stuck in the wrong position.

He felt his knees buckle beneath him, half aware that he could hear new voices, new shouts. And then the magic disappeared from around his neck and he started to cough violently, forcing oxygen into his lungs as he shook. Scorpius appeared by his side, taking his hand and helping him to sit up slowly.

The world was still coming back into focus, and he couldn’t make a sound, due either to the pain or due to an injury. But it didn’t matter. Delphi appeared to be gone. For whatever reason, she had suddenly abandoned them.

He let his eyes drift closed as Scorpius placed an arm around him, murmuring softly.

New footsteps. Scorpius gasping. A surprised gasp. A happy gasp.

Albus forced his eyes open.

His dad and Draco were stood in the doorway.

**Author's Note:**

> So I can't even remember where this came from anymore but it mostly got written in the middle of the night because I have had one last weekend of stupid sleeping patterns.  
> As of tomorrow, I'm leaving this house and I'm going to be living in one place and I am very, very excited. It has been six years of moving between two different houses and now, for at least a few months, I get to live in one place and it's somewhere I feel safe.  
> So yeah. Today is a good day.  
> Thanks for reading.  
> Kudos and comments always appreciated  
> Twitter: @evieadams273


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